Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: FURX) today confirmed that Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for trelagliptin succinate (SYR-472), a once weekly dosage treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Under Furiex's agreement with Takeda, Furiex is eligible to receive royalties and sales-based milestones if trelagliptin succinate is approved and marketed in Japan.

Takeda's NDA is based on the safety and efficacy results of multiple Phase III clinical studies in patients with type 2 diabetes in Japan. The efficacy of once-weekly trelagliptin succinate was confirmed in all studies, in addition to a good safety and tolerability profile. Trelagliptin succinate controls blood glucose levels effectively with single weekly dosing, and is expected to contribute to improvement in drug adherence of patients.

"We are pleased that Takeda has taken this important step in seeking approval of trelagliptin succinate in Japan," said Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., chairman of Furiex. "This is a significant achievement for Furiex and Takeda's type 2 diabetes franchise."

Added June Almenoff, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief medical officer of Furiex, "We are excited about the potential for trelagliptin succinate to provide type 2 diabetes patients with a convenient, once-weekly treatment option."

About Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and has reached epidemic proportions globally. The global health care expenditures to treat and prevent diabetes and its complications were estimated at $471 billion in 2012. By 2030, this number is projected to exceed $595 billion. In addition to diet and exercise, patients often need to take multiple medications to help manage blood glucose. Due to the chronic nature of this disease, combination therapy is often required to maintain diabetic control over many years of therapy.

About Takeda's Trelagliptin

Trelagliptin succinate, discovered by Takeda California, Inc., Takeda's wholly-owned subsidiary located in San Diego, California, is a once-weekly dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-4) inhibitor. It controls blood glucose levels by selectively and continually inhibiting DPP-4, an enzyme that causes the inactivation of glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, incretin hormones that play an important role in blood glucose regulation. The inhibition of DPP-4 increases insulin secretion depending on blood glucose concentration, thereby controlling blood glucose levels.

About Furiex

Furiex Pharmaceuticals is a drug development collaboration company that uses innovative clinical development design to accelerate and increase value of drug development programs by advancing them through the drug discovery and development process in a cost-efficient manner. Our drug development programs are designed and driven by a core team with extensive drug development experience. The Company collaborates with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and has a diversified product portfolio and pipeline with multiple therapeutic candidates, including one Phase III-ready asset, two compounds in Phase III development, one of which is with a partner, and four products on the market. The Company's mission is to develop innovative medicines faster and at a lower cost, thereby improving profitability and accelerating time to market while providing life-improving therapies for patients. For more information, visit www.furiex.com.

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although Furiex attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: progress of compounds in clinical trials and regulatory approvals; potential changes to regulatory guidance by regulatory agencies such as the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; continuing losses and our potential need for additional financing; inability of collaborators to effectively market approved products for which we receive royalty and sales-based milestone payments; changes in the safety and efficacy profile of our existing compounds as they progress through research and development; the costs of defending any patent opposition or litigation necessary to protect our proprietary technologies; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Furiex, copies of which can be found on our website.

Investors Contact:
Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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Sailash.Patel@furiex.com
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